Landmarks · Plain of Shinar
Babel (Tower of Babel)
What was Babel (Tower of Babel)?
Babel is where humanity built a tower to heaven and God confused their language — the origin story of the nations.
TodayAssociated with Babylon’s ziggurat ruins, Iraq
LocationPlain of Shinar (Babylonia)
EventLanguages confused, peoples scattered
ReversalPentecost
On the plain of Shinar, a united humanity said, “Come, let us build for ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves.”
God came down, confused their language, and scattered them — the city was called Babel, “because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world.”
At Pentecost the sign reverses: every nation hears God’s praise in its own tongue, and Revelation gathers a choir “from every nation, tribe, people, and language.”
Key verses BSB · Public Domain (CC0)
Genesis 11:4 ““Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.”” Genesis 11:9 “That is why it is called Babel, for there the LORD confused the language of the whole world, and from that place the LORD scattered them over the face of all the earth.”
Related places
Original BibleDawn profile. Drafted with AI assistance and reviewed for accuracy. Scripture quoted from the public-domain Berean Standard Bible.